It's Great to Be Down By the Seaside!
'It's Great to Be Down By the Seaside! '''is the fourth episode of the twentieth season. Plot Salty the Dockyard Diesel enjoys singing while he works. Cranky, Bill, Ben and sometimes the other engines often join in too. However, sometimes they feel Salty takes it a bit too far. One night, David took a late goods train to Brendam Docks. "Its pretty late," he yawned. "I don't feel like going back to Wellsworth." "Don't worry, you'll stay the night here," replied his Driver. David puffed into the shed at Brendam Docks where Bill, Ben and Salty were already there. "Hullo," they said. "Ah! Some peace and quiet. Today's been a long day," sighed David. "You're telling me. This fool almost made come off the tracks," said Bill. "What'd you call me?" "Nothing." "Ah, me harties. Go to sleep!" said Salty. They did, but soon Salty started sleep-singing. "Oh, its great to be down by the seaside," he sang. He was singing so loudly that it woke David, Bill and Ben up. "Uh!" groaned David. "Shut it off! Shut it off!" cried Bill and Ben. But it continued all night and when dawn came David, Bill and Ben felt exhausted. "Ah, a good morning to you all!" said Salty. "What was that? Did you say my tubes are leaking?" asked David. "No, I said good morning." "Oh, I must tell my Driver, then." Salty's Driver pulled the lever and he hooted away. Later, at the Clay Pits, Bill and Ben were making silly mistakes. Bill was shunting trucks for Marion. She was telling him when to move the trucks. "All right! Bring me some more trucks!" Bill was too tired to hear. Marion dropped her load of china clay into the already full trucks! "Bill! I told you to move along!" "What!? Did you say the Fat Controller wants me to work at the Quarry? I love it here!" Meanwhile, Ben was not paying attention at the hopper. "Ben, you better move your trucks," advised Timothy. "Or else -" (china clay pours down) "That will happen." Meanwhile, David reached Tidmouth exhuasted. "Something's wrong with him," observed David's Driver. "He's been complaining about his tubes and I checked and they're in fine order," agreed his Fireman. David's Fireman uncoupled David from his goods train and puffed to Tidmouth Sheds. David was practically asleep when he parked into his berth. "Well, he's one sleepyhead," said James. "Yeah . . ." Then, the Fat Controller walked in. "All right, in twenty minutes, I need you to take a train of rails and ties to Kellsthorpe," said the Fat Controller. "Hmm. Sir, is there any other engine that could take the load?" asked David's Driver. "Why?" "David is, uh, not feeling well." (looks over to David and sees him sleeping and takes out airhorn and blows it in front of him) "Well, we have James." "What? I am not taking goods." "You are in twenty minutes." "Uh, fine," groaned James and he went to get ready. Two hours later, David woke up. "I think that's fine," he yawned. "Wait, how'd I get here!?" "Relax. You've been sleeping on the job," replied his Driver. "Really?" "Yes," replied his Fireman. "Now, tell us why you were so sleepy." "Well, I was sleeping at Brendam with Bill, Ben and Salty but Salty's singing kept me up all night." "Ah, that makes sense." "Well, if Bill and Ben were with you, we better check now they're doing," said his Fireman. "Right." They made a quick phone call to Ben's Driver. "Hullo?" "Hey, uh, how are the twins?" "Horrible. Today's been a tough day. There are tons of china clay around the Pits because Bill and Ben have not been concentrating. You have any idea of this?" David's Driver explained the whole situation. "I see. We must stop Salty without hurting his feelings," said Ben's Driver. "Eh, as long as he doesn't sleep with you guys, its fine." Edward, BoCo, David, Bill and Ben were resting at Wellsworth. "Today's been a long day," sighed BoCo. "Yeah, lots of passengers and goods. We really missed you, David," said Edward. "I know, but I do need to rest properly or else I can't really concentrate," replied David. "Finally, some peace and quiet," sighed Bill. "We took a china clay train just so we didn't have to sleep at the Docks with Salty," added Ben. But then they heard a familar horn. "Hullo, me harties! I was taking fresh fuels to all the stations, but Driver says I should crash here tonight," he explained. "Oh no," exclaimed David, Bill and Ben. "What's wrong?" "Uh, I just remembered that the Fat Controller wants me to pull a special midnight goods," said David. "What?" said his Driver. "We never . . ." (David gestures towards Salty) "Oh, right, now I remember, let's go." "Yeah, and we have some more china clay trucks to fill," said Ben. "Later!" And they were off. "What was that all about?" asked Edward. "I don't know, but let's go to sleep," said Salty. But pretty soon, Salty started sleep-singing again. That kept Edward and BoCo up all night. David filled in for them, so they could make up some rest. "So, that's why you guys left last night," Edward told David. "Yeah, we slept at the goods shed at Knapford," replied David. "But, what are we going to do?" "Never mind, he keeps disturbing our sleep, I'm afraid he's going to get into an accident, soon." "Oh, its great to be down by the seaside!" sang Salty. "Shut it off!" cried Cranky. David arrived to pick up a load of pipes. Salty was shunting the flat-trucks when Cranky, accidentally dropped the pipes onto the tracks! Salty was not concentrating and the flat-trucks hit the pipes and headed towards the sea! Salty wasn't singing anymore! Men quickly anchored him and David prepared to pull him back to safety. "Uh!" he cried. "Its no use! We're going to have to break the chain between Salty and the flatbeds." "But we're working on the seventh verse for It's Great to Be Down By the Seaside!" "Uh, good riddance then," exclaimed Cranky. "Its our only hope," replied David. They did so and then David could safely guide Salty back onto the rails. "That was a close one," said Salty. "How could I ever repay you?" "Well," said David. "Several engines and I have come to our sense that your singing is keeping us awake and so I was asking if maybe you could not sing in your sleep." "Also, not to mention when I'm loading stuff. If you hadn't been singing, you would've noticed the pipes," added Cranky. "Well, maybe, but the thing is singing is my passion, the only reason I wouldn't sing is if I'm listening to it." "Hmm, that's a great idea!" (scene changes to the shed at Brendam) "Are you sure this will work?" asked Bill. "Yeah, 'cause if it doesn't, I'm out of here," agreed Ben. "There. The iPod is ready," said Salty's Driver. "Oh no, wait, change it to the next folder, that's mine," said David's Driver. "Taylor Swift, seriously?" "Hey! Don't judge me!" "The iPod is set so that only he can hear it," explained David. Sure enough, it worked. Now, the engines don't have to worry about Salty, sleep-singing again. Though, they still enjoy a nice musical together. "Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside Oh! I do like to be beside the sea! Oh! I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom! Where the brass bands play: "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!" Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside Oh! I do like to be beside the sea When I'm down beside the sea I'm beside myself with glee Beside the seaside! Beside the sea!" Characters *Edward *James *David *Bill and Ben *Timothy *Marion *BoCo *Salty *Cranky *Sir Topham Hatt Locations *Brendam Docks *Tidmouth Harbour *Tidmouth Sheds *China Clay Works *Wellsworth Trivia *In the original script, David originally mentioned that he stayed the night at Tidmouth, not Knapford. Category:Adventures on Rails Category:Episodes